


Serdevil

by xthunderbolt



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Inner Kuro & Kuro are merged together here, Inner!Kuro, Inner!Kuro&Mahiru, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, a Serdevil is basically a demon version of a Servamp, humping, pheromones addiction, venom addiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:20:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26220274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xthunderbolt/pseuds/xthunderbolt
Summary: where the bite of a demon feels good and Mahiru is addicted.
Relationships: Kuro | Sleepy Ash & Shirota Mahiru, Kuro | Sleepy Ash/Shirota Mahiru
Comments: 29
Kudos: 80





	Serdevil

Alone. In his obscure, quiet room. 

Ghosts of terror and shadows of loneliness danced to the enchanting accords of the nocturnal symphony, eerily enough to force Mahiru in a trance of agony, with no light to sooth his mind and soul. 

Pain crawled under his skin, like the roots of a tree growing underground. Loneliness ripped off pieces of him, leaving him feeling like a phantasm. Only existing without living. Only suffering without meaning. 

"Damn you succubus." he hissed the moment his fingers sunk into the skin of his shoulder; more and more, harder and harder, until he felt the warm blood staining his fingertips and immersing under his nails.

And only that little physical laceration kept him away from the psychological one. It became his only source of consciousness and the closest memory he had to the bites of the succubus. 

He longed for that sensation he felt when their fangs pierced his skin like a thirsty man searching for water in the desert. He needed it. He needed a stir, an emotion, a feeling; something that his body has been asking for desperately and he didn't know how to give it to it when hurting himself turned out to be insufficient. 

And so, the dolent abyss trapped him in this mental cage, with only an ephemeral ray of hope. 

His hands permeated the strands of his messy hair defeatedly, trying – hoping that it would switch his attention away from the tumultuous fire blazing inside his body. His wretched whimpers filled the room, unaware that they also reached the ears of his Serdevil in the other one, as he, yet again, failed to be strong. 

Kuro sighed, his slim figure walking lazily through the shadows of the apartment, towards the room of his Eve. 

"I was expecting this, but not at this hour in the night." he muttered, scraping his nape.

The door creaked open when he pushed it, echoing in the sleeping ambience. Mahiru froze in his safe space and his breathing stopped. The monster entered like a lonely entity in a haunted mansion – gracefully traversing the darkness and attentively becoming one with the soundlessness.

Kuro stopped in the middle of the room. He frowned at Mahiru's poor condition. As the Serdevil of Sloth, he didn't like the fact that his Eve wasn't resting, that he couldn't rest. But as a demon, he would lie if he'd say that Mahiru's misery – the misery of a human – didn't send a little electroshock of pleasure throughout his body. He liked how vulnerable Mahiru looked, so obedient and at his mercy. So terrified and hopeless that he might depend on him. Kuro considered him beautifully broken. 

The thought brought a morbid grin in the corner of his lips., as he nonchalantly made his way towards the teen; quietly and calculated. 

"What a pitiful sight." he expressed in a low, honeyed key. 

Mahiru's head lifted up at Kuro's voice, and he eyed him panicked. There, right before his body, his face, his sight, stood his Serdevil. In his demon form. His red eyes cut the blackness like a nightmare in the middle of the night, and his horns sparkled in the moonlight in a sinister fascinating way. 

And Mahiru's eyes – Oh, Mahiru's eyes have never given Kuro such pleasurable chills down his spine. The way they widened when Kuro advanced towards him made the devil salivate. 

Every step the demon took resounded in the small room, every movement he made tightened the knot inside Mahiru's throat and the chain inside his stomach. 

When the Serdevil sat down on the bed, right where Mahiru's toes were hidden under the blanket, Mahiru lowered his gaze to his thighs and gulped, curling his toes. His mind drowned in thoughts and questions, giving birth to new ideas and theories.

Did Kuro come here to torment him? Did he come here to check on him? Did he come here to help him? Could he even help him if he's not an incubus? Do all demons have a venom that causes pleasure? Wouldn't that be impossible if Kuro has bitten him so many times before and he felt nothing? Were Serdevils different from regular devils? How could he help him then? Was there another way to end this pain? 

"You know", Kuro gently grabbed both of Mahiru's wrists, snapping him out of his head. "you wouldn't have to go through all this if you would have ran away. You would have been safe and well." 

Mahiru's train of thought paused. So Kuro came here to torment him. He frowned, though, he still thought with unfocused eyes at Kuro's remark. Kuro's logic disoriented his mind to the point of denial; the different perspective of the facts too turbid, too cruel, for his altruistic, simple self. 

However, simplifying it, he brought forth a realization that sent chills down his spine. 

"But Misono wouldn't have!" he attacked with rage; a rage that made Kuro's features harden to mimic the turbulence within him. 

"So what?" Kuro glared harshly at Mahiru through the black veil of his hair, making the boy gulp. His red irises shined danger and mischief, but the eyes beyond the color twinkled attention and care. "Are you saying that it's alright to sacrifice yourself for the sake of one person?" he brought his face closer to Mahiru's. "Look where it led you, Mahiru. Who can you save in this condition? How can you be that someone to somebody when you don't even take care of yourself?" Kuro's asperity intensified with every word, as well as his position. Their noses almost touched and his scent, the aura he emitted, stirred something inside the Eve, causing the wounds to itch and throb harder than before. 

Kuro only tried to rip Mahiru off of his fallacy. He tried to make him see that he couldn't and that he didn't need to save everyone. He was nobody's savior, his only responsibility should be himself and himself only. Kuro only wanted him to see that if he puts himself first, he can help all those surrounding him, but if he falls, he won't be able to protect not even those closest to him. He only wanted Mahiru to realize that self-sacrifice does more bad than good and the only way to be a hero was to be a guide for people – someone who inspired them to stand up themselves, not someone who pulled them up himself. 

Mahiru glared at him, twitching slightly when the bites ached. That wasn't right, that wasn't simple at all for him. "I'm fine. The wounds will heal, I'll get better!" he stated, even though he knew it was a lie; one that his body constantly reminded him of. And only the idea of being bound to their invisible chains of anguish, scared him deathly. 

The demon hummed in an unctuous way, quietly sitting in a lotus position. The distancing made Mahiru let out a breath of relief, but the air was yet again stolen from him when Kuro brought his scarred wrist closer to his face and started inspecting it. His other hand was gently hugged by Kuro's and rested in his lap. 

"And what if they won't? What do you know about a succubus' bite?" Kuro dragged his thumb lazily over the bite marks of the female demon and the fresh bite marks Mahiru made himself. Kuro tightened his lips to bite off the anger boiling inside him. If Mahiru only knew how much the sight and the idea of another demon's biting what he had already claimed infuriated him...

"Misono said that their venom," Mahiru looked away. "causes… orgasms and… addiction." he finished in a wobbly voice. 

Kuro masked his roar with a purr at Mahiru's words, bringing the wrist closer to his nose. "Hm, that's partly true. It's actually…" He observed the boy's flashed face with famished eyes. "their saliva causing the pleasure." he revealed darkly. Mahiru's eyes widened and his mouth opened, yet no sounds came out. 

"And you felt it on yourself, didn't you? The effect of three succubus at that, not just one." Kuro mocked, as his nose glued to Mahiru's bites. The skin was slightly ripped from the boy's constant scratching and gnawing, but the fragrant smell pumped ecstatic adrenaline inside of Kuro like no other. 

Mahiru's features hardened, angry over the fact that Kuro accused him of something he had no control of, nor sufficient power to prevent it from happening. He didn't want to fail and he tried to persevere until his last forces left him. He really became a victim of his own heroism. 

"I didn't ask for this!" he snapped, trying to get his hands back. Kuro tightened his grip on the bitten one, pulling it even closer to him. Kuro nuzzled Mahiru's hand against his cheek. His nose molded against the skin of his wrist, causing fire to erupt inside the poor human where Kuro's hot breath touched it. 

"Oh, you didn't?" Kuro cooed. "You did tell Misono to run and leave you behind, didn't you? What outcome did you expect from that?" 

Mahiru grunted, lowering his head. He bit his lip repetitively, fisting the sheets with his free hand. What he expected? He wanted to protect Misono, and he did it. At what cost though? He didn't mind a little bit of pain if that meant that Misono managed to run away safely. However, as Kuro told him, now, in his actual state, how is he supposed to protect everyone? Was there another choice? Another way? Could he have saved both himself and Misono? Did he make an irreversible mistake? 

Was he wrong? 

He grimaced angrily, hating the truth in Kuro's words and the amalgamation of disaster that became his mind and, overall, himself. Though, in the end, he didn't voice any of the mess he locked inside. "Why did you come here?" he demanded instead. 

"To help you. Don't you want the pain to stop?" Kuro's suave question poured over Mahiru's rationality like honey, drowning in slow motion the rage inside of him. Kuro observed sadistically the war of emotions his Eve's face showed to him. He felt the greed growing with every second that passed, he felt the yearning for more eating at him. And giving up to it, he let the tip of his tongue taste Mahiru's blood from his wrist, leaving behind the smallest bits of saliva. 

And the moment he felt Mahiru shiver, he liberated that atrocious smile and malevolent eyes. His hand tightened around Mahiru's wrist and the Eve raised his head towards his Serdevil. 

Mahiru gaped enraptured at Kuro's demonic eyes and devilish smile. They hypnotized him. And he let himself being hypnotized until they threw him in an abyss far beyond his comprehension. 

Designed as a black maze of fantasy, where he couldn't see anything, Mahiru deduced that it might be Kuro's inner world, even though it looked different from the few times he visited it. 

Darkness surrounded the entire place. The chilly air and the desolate atmosphere made Mahiru shiver. The place scared him. He was alone and lonely here, with no one to hear his cries of despair. He wanted out of there. Immediately. 

He vigorously scrutinized the perimeter with his agitated gaze, searching for a slim source of light or life. And far away from him, hidden in the shadows, he found Kuro's silhouette holding one candle in his hand. Mahiru breathed in relief at the sight of the source of light, but he felt himself trembling and suffocating in the presence of his Serdevil. 

Obscurity adorned him in eloquent mystery. He had his nonchalant posture and smug smirk, with somber shadows dancing on his mischievous face. He walked confidently the dark path towards his frozen Eve, as rows of candles lightened along with his echoing steps. 

Subconsciously, Mahiru took two shaky steps back when he felt his legs and hands being captured in a tight grip. Looking down, dread and dismay showed on his face when the blackness surrounding him circled his limbs and torso like the shadow tentacles Kuro often used in combats. 

"What!" he screeched, pointlessly trying to free himself, but the tentacles only tightened around him the more he opposed resistance.

He wrestled desperately for his freedom when that well-known excruciating ache shot him from his neck to his shoulder, forcing him brutally on his hands and knees with a grievous scream.

He groped his neck ferociously, clawing wretchedly at it. He sobbed miserably, tear after tear getting lost in the darkness. 

He heard the devil's steps approaching him. They echoed through the entire ambience, they sounded distinct and scattered, as if they purposely played with his mind. He heard them from the front, from the back, from left, then right. He held his breath as he tried to control his cries, listening and anticipating the position of the steps' owner. 

Until they stopped. 

Raising his head just a bit, he noticed black shoes in front of him. He watched them bug-eyed, shocked so intensely that his sobbes instantly died down. 

The legs shifted, followed by the sound of static movement and ruffling. Someone crouched before Mahiru. 

When his alarmed eyes rose, he found Kuro's face right before his. Half of it was illuminated by the candle, and the same sinister smile still played on his lips, making him look cryptic. 

Mahiru jumped back, still clutching his neck. Kuro gently placed the candle by his right foot, eyeing Mahiru's terrorized appearance with satisfaction. 

"Do you want me to stop the pain?" he asked. Mahiru remained silent. Kuro hummed, as if acknowledging Mahiru's silence as an answer. He slowly stood up, towering over the human in a sibylline manner. Mahiru followed him with his crestfallen stare, observing him like a rabbit in front of a wolf. 

Lastly, Mahiru saw Kuro's maniac guise before the shadow-tentacles swallowed him and he put all his fear and pain in a blood-chilling scream. 

Mahiru came back to reality with a gasp and haunted eyes that looked in the void. He breathed so erratically that he felt dizzy, heart raced so fast that his chest pained and he quivered so much that his muscles hurt. His focus stayed paralyzed on the white sheets squeezed by his shaking hand, but he couldn't comprehend their existence. He was so petrified that he didn't even notice the tears sliding down his cheeks. 

He didn't understand what happened, how it happened and why it happened. He visited Kuro's mind before, but never that way. Never was he absorbed into it that way, and devoured by it. Never was he so scared of being there, it never felt so ghastly and macabre to be there. 

He startled when Kuro's fingers touched his face like the breeze of a summer night, wiping along with it the lonely tears staining his cheek. When Kuro's fingers got lost in the boy's hair and his palm molded against his cheek, Mahiru had the velleity to close his eyes, and forget about everything he experienced in the last minutes. He dreamed to simply enjoy the warmth and softness of Kuro's hand. 

However, instead of falling into peacefulness, Mahiru's appearance tensed when Kuro's hand lifted his head delicately, as if afraid Mahiru would run away like a deer at any sudden act or change that might disturb his inner world.

As soon as the Eve's eyes met Kuro's, he felt cold chills going down his spine. 

Kuro's expression resembled the one in the dark place he just got out of. The same foul smile and the same deranged eyes that perforated Mahiru's usual sense of being. 

"Do you, Mahiru?" the demon muttered in a hoarse voice, making Mahiru inhale deeply, with no vocal answer to give his partner. 

Kuro unhurriedly leaned in towards Mahiru's neck, where one of the bites resided in a little pool of blood. He positioned his free hand behind Mahiru as support for his own body, while the other one still clutched the boy's face. 

Mahiru trembled harder, not daring to move a muscle. He felt captive in a cage in which any wrong move could bring him punishment. 

"Do you want me to end your suffering?" the Serdevil breathed on the bite, making it itch and burn. The hot breath made goosebumps appear on Mahiru's entire body, although, it was the pain of the bite the one that made him whine and shudder. 

He lowered his forehead on Kuro's shoulder, hand gripping the demon's jacket. The action surprised Kuro. He enjoyed it even – Oh, how much he enjoyed feeling Mahiru shiver so lightly or even watching fear cloud his judgment. 

Yet, his favorite feeling would be the satisfaction of having Mahiru depend on him more. Of having him ask for help, of letting Kuro help him, care for him. Still, Kuro pushed and pushed, and Mahiru still chose to suffer in silence and let Kuro desintegrate hopelessly from uselessness. 

Kuro raised his head to Mahiru's ear, his hot breath hitting it consistently. He smirked when he felt Mahiru twitch. 

"Do you?" Kuro spoke with a gruff voice. 

Mahiru opened his mouth, forcing himself to answer through his pain, shock and fear. He felt Kuro's grip tightening around his wrist, as his thumb rubbed his hand. He closed his eyes tightly before replying with a brittle voice, "I do." 

The demon's smile grew as wild as his gaze. He let out a somber giggle and Mahiru's breath hitched. Kuro threw one arm around Mahiru's shoulders and one in the middle of his back. He brought him a little closer, letting his arm get squished between their chests. Mahiru's hold on Kuro's jacked tightened in anticipation. 

And Kuro bit him. Slowly, deep and careful. 

Mahiru grunted with each inch of Kuro's fangs entering him, burying his head in his partner's shoulder, as the contractual chains roared to life. Warm waves of ecstasy embraced his body, electroshocking every nerve, vein and muscle in such a pleasurable way that he needed to bite his tongue in the fight with his judgment. 

The pain evaporated moderately, letting him feeling light. Serenity filled his body as bliss captured his mind in the cage of rapture. He felt drunk, floating between reality and fantasy without realizing which one is which anymore. Ineffable sensations consumed his lucidity and he let himself being devoured; he permitted himself to be dragged far away from the bellicostic realm. 

Before getting entirely lost into them though, everything stopped. Every feeling slowly faded away and Mahiru came back to the harsh reality. His pained eyes widened and his mouth opened in confusion and frustration. 

Kuro slowly departed from the human as Mahiru sniffed. 

"Shh." the demon breathed, as he gripped Mahiru's biceps. "Calm down, ok? I got you." 

Mahiru's face contorted in despair as his body shuddered. He nodded his head frantically two times. The demon looked for certainty in those haunted eyes, before moving the material of Mahiru's shirt to reveal the scarred area of his shoulder. Kuro's face clouded up at what he saw. 

"What have you done here?" he asked, brushing his thumb over the area. "It's full of scratches, more than the others."

Deep lacerations and scrapes decorated Mahiru's entire shoulder. Some still had dry blood on them while some faded to angry red claws that hid the bites of the succubus. If Kuro wouldn't have known the situation or wouldn't have noticed Mahiru hurting himself, he would have thought that their author was himself, an animal or another supernatural creature. 

"It burns. And it itches and it hurts." Mahiru finished with a pained voice. 

"Ah, that's so." Kuro murmured thickly, simpering sadly. "Do you know why?" he didn't expect Mahiru to give him a coherent answer, maybe not even a voiced one. 

So he wasn't surprised when Mahiru raised his shoulders and asked: "The bite is deeper than the others?" 

Kuro puffed amused, secretly wishing that, that could have been the case, or at least a possibility. Sadly… 

"No." he replied monotonously; absent-mindedly stroking the wounds. He could feel the bumps of some of them. "It's the venom." 

"I thought you said that the saliva did the trick, not the venom." 

Kuro rolled his eyes at Mahiru's scolding, before explaining himself. "I said that the saliva caused the pleasure. But the venom causes the aftermath. Like the pain you've been feeling now." he threw Mahiru a look before returning his attention on the wounded shoulder. 

"What's with your saliva that causes the pleasure? Why is that?" 

"It's the pheromones. Humans have them too, but ours are stronger." 

"Your bites didn't feel like that though." Mahiru confessed, and Kuro felt the corner of his lips raising in a barely noticeable way, while his eyes became dark. He needed no more words to understand what his Eve meant by "that". 

Kuro nodded, susurrating in agreement. "I didn't put saliva on the wound, that's why. I mean, some bits end up on it naturally, which is the cause of the bliss you feel when I bite you, but if – let's say – I lick the bite, the pleasure would be ten times bigger than what you've felt until now." he explained calmly, as an aura of mischief played around his voice. 

Moments of quietness followed after those words. Kuro thought that Mahiru took his time to process the information, while Mahiru waited for another explanation from Kuro – one that he demanded himself after concluding that the demon planned on staying silent. 

"Why don't you do it?" he asked in a small, tremulous voice. 

A shin layer of puzzlement glitched on Kuro's face and he tensed. On the other hand, Mahiru waited patiently, as if hopeful of an answer that would usually bother his outer layers of judgment, yet expectant of the answer that would satisfy his rationality. 

But his Serdevil gave him none of them. 

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Kuro teased smugly, bringing his face closer to Mahiru's; eager to watch the nervousness, the terror or the desire sparkling up in his eyes. He could already feel the saliva building up in his mouth at the mere thought of that satisfaction. 

Severely surprised he was when Mahiru scowled, before punching him in the head. 

"Ow!" Kuro cried, caressing the throbbing area. How could he even forget that Mahiru's stubbornness could destroy even the strongest of spells or turmoil? What did he expect? "So mean towards your good, devil samaritan!" he mumbled with the last beat of dignity he had. 

Mahiru scrutinized Kuro petulantly, until he dropped the silly act with a sigh. He observed Kuro enter a pensive state, guessing that he pondered whether he should reveal the truth to Mahiru. 

Leisurely, Kuro gaped at Mahiru's neck, tensing up. He stared deep into his eyes and confessed in a croaky voice, "I don't want to make you lose control."

"What does that mean?" the boy mumbled, as if scared of the answer. 

Kuro exhaled the tension he hid inside, bowing his head before reaching a hand towards Mahiru and gripping his shoulder. A wave of warmth submerged Mahiru in cold shivers. And when Kuro moved, and peeked at him between his dark strands of hair, his eyebrows raised. 

"Serdevils have stronger pheromones." the Serdevil informed his Eve, letting the hand that caressed Mahiru fall on his lap. 

"Oh." was all Mahiru voiced. And Kuro didn't know if he comprehended the meaning of his explanation, but he hoped that at least he understood that Kuro didn't want to take advantage of his weak mental state. 

The thought that Mahiru has been bitten by three succubus, simultaneously touched and tortured until he collapsed, drained Kuro of enough morality and energy. 

The memory made Kuro purse his lips and curl his hands into fists. He breathed two times, calmed down on the third. He reminded himself that he slaughtered those demons. It all ended there. Mahiru was safe. And this time Mahiru needed him. This time Kuro needed to control himself. And with one look into Mahiru's eyes, he calmed down the rancorous intent infecting his rationality. 

He unclenched his fists, as he let the tension out through his nose. His hands felt numb and he watched them with stupor, reminiscing all the times those hands have killed, slaughtered, tortured, hugged, saved and caressed. 

He heard Mahiru wail and his head involuntarily rose to him. With an agonized expression, Mahiru massaged the bite on his shoulder, occasionally gripping and adding pressure on it.

No wonder he still felt pain, Kuro thought. The amount of venom he injected him with couldn't even compare to the amounts of venom of the succubus he still had in his body. It will take more bites to completely and definitely get rid of it at the pace he's set for Mahiru and his sanity. 

Kuro raised his hand once again and, this time, he put it over Mahiru's, hiding it under his palm. He forced a reassuring smile. "Let's stop that pain too then, shall we?" 

Mahiru nodded. His breath quickened in anticipation and his other hand subconsciously fisted the front of Kuro's shirt. 

Kuro held Mahiru's hand in his, as he removed it from the boy's shoulder and guided it on his own. Then he introduced one finger inside the collar of Mahiru's shirt. The act agitated the tumultuous blaze inside of Mahiru and he tensed more, gulping subtly. 

Kuro came closer and Mahiru shifted his position in expectancy. His other hand rose to rest on Mahiru's cheek, with his fingers curling over to his nape. As his face leaned towards his Eve's, both of them functioned on short breaths and heavy pressure. Mahiru couldn't wait to be bitten and Kuro couldn't wait to bite. 

The finger inside Mahiru's shirt moved across his hot skin, until Kuro's entire hand infiltrated inside. Then it moved down, revealing more of the scarred zone. Kuro salivated like a hungry beast. It wasn't the first time he feeded from Mahiru – hell, he did it only a few minutes ago – but it was the first time he'd bite him in such an intimate place. It was as if this time it'd be him to feed Mahiru; feed him with sensations no other succubus or incubus would ever be able to, and no bite or venom could ever compare to. 

"Hurry." his Eve commanded. Kuro smiled, slowly listening to his master's request. 

His head lowered to Mahiru's shoulder, kissing the bloodied skin as softly as the wings of a butterfly. He licked blood from his lips before he opened his mouth, and Mahiru felt half of his shoulder hugged by that astonishing hot and wet cavern. 

When the fangs penetrated his skin, he let out a quick yell as his head fell back. Flames spread inside his body, erupting in a wave on the surface that made him pant. He stared at the blank ceiling as his hands clawed Kuro's shirt. 

His hands snaked around Kuro, slowly moving to his back, where he pushed his hands to bring Kuro's body closer to his. 

Kuro fed off of all the sensations, reactions and energy that Mahiru emitted. It intoxicated his mind, pulling him into a dangerous madness. He wanted to consume Mahiru, dry him of all his delicious blood, devour his flesh, eat his tears, soak him in his pheromones until the last drop of power left Mahiru's body and reduced him to a whining, living corpse, completely at the mercy of Kuro's mania and craving. 

His panicked eyes snapped open at his horrendous fantasies and his heart skipped a beat. He gripped Mahiru's shirt into fists, trying to come to his senses. 

Control; he needed control. He needed to keep things in control. Feeling himself losing against his agitation, he pulled back, breathing heavily. 

"No, no, no. " Mahiru cried at the interruption. "Just drink my blood properly already, you damn, lazy cat!" 

Kuro giggled at his Eve, deeply grateful for his bold personality, for it remained the only thing that never failed to save Kuro from his own mind. "But I'm doing that, am I not?" he teased. 

Mahiru smacked his head; exactly what Kuro needed for the cloud around his brain to clear up. 

"So rude." Kuro whined, caressing the throbbing area. "I won't bite you anymore if you'll keep abusing me." 

"I wouldn't do that if you'd bite me! " Mahiru fumed, with eyes as rapacious as an onslaught. 

Kuro tried to control the proud and sincere smile that erupted in the corner of his lips. His heart beat so rapidly that his breathing stopped in his throat. This is it. This is what he needed to come back fully to the present time. He needed familiarity, he needed to bring his Mahiru back to him. 

Kuro faked an annoyed puff, before grabbing Mahiru's forearms. They locked gazes, enjoying to read the unspoken stories shining in their eyes. They absorbed the hidden sorrowful events and the dark secrets now illuminated by the moonlight. They explored what they've never been brave enough to explore before about each other. 

Kuro traced with his fingers the shreds of blood that got lost in Mahiru's shirt, leaving behind red spots. He removed the collar again, revealing the bites – his bites. The sight made him smile larger. Satisfaction and proudness waltzed inside of him seeing that the bites of the succubus were now covered by his. He cleared the blood with his finger, caressing them gently, allured by his dream of putting his venom into Mahiru becoming reality. 

And with the same soft smile and excitement boiling inside him, he sunk his fangs back where they belonged. 

Mahiru inhaled loudly and his hands gripped Kuro's shirt harshly. Kuro hugged his back with one hand, while the other one cupped his nape. 

Mahiru closed his eyes and let himself be hypnotized by the gulping sounds induced by Kuro drinking from him. 

Mahiru felt that euphoric sensation spreading inside and out his body, like bolts of electricity. He felt engulfed in that elysian dimension he visited precedently, and he happily permitted himself to get lost into it again. He faintly felt Kuro's arms hugging him tighter and the soft vibrations in his chest provoked by his moans. 

Mahiru's head felt heavy. His body felt weak. He got limp in Kuro's hands, secured in his embrace. 

When Kuro retracted his fangs from the wound, Mahiru hissed. He felt dizzy and disconnected from reality. It was as if the blood loss held him captive in a dreamy state of an alternate universe. 

But Kuro felt insane, drugged with contentment and bathed in delirium. He did it. He marked Mahiru. He sneered, giggling maniacally, as his arms bought Mahiru closer to his chest. 

"Mahiru. Mahiru." he called erratically. "Look at me, Mahiru." He grabbed Mahiru's temple with one hand and tilted his head back for the human to watch him. Mahiru's gaze was disoriented, eyes fogged, lost in the dizziness. Kuro smirked even wider at the sight, as his eyes turned wild. "Do you know what just happened, Mahiru? Do you?"

Mahiru mumbled incoherently, closing his eyes. 

"No, no, no. Don't close them, Mahiru. Open your eyes, show them to me." he pleaded, stroking Mahiru's cheek with his thumb. He watched madly how Mahiru's eyes fought to open, and when they did, his smirk and eyes widened. 

"Do you"– Kuro whispered, lowering his face to Mahiru's – "know what I did to you? Do you know what it means?" 

"What?" he mumbled, trying to shift his position to fight off the confusional state, but his body's weakened condition restricted him. 

Kuro's smirk grew, eyeballing him so ardently that he perturbed the deepest pits of his and his Eve's conjoined essence. And he let himself be burned, be blazed, be consumed by it, until dark lunacy was all that remained of him. 

Mahiru fought the fainting with all his lasting might, struggling to shape the coherence of the fogged image in front of him. His hearing stifled, forcing him to squint at Kuro through his few moments of mental clarity. He faintly felt hands stroking his cheeks and hair, followed by a hot breath that spoke inaudible words. 

"You…" Kuro breathed in his face. "literally belong to me now." 

And Mahiru's eyes closed. Kuro's grin widened and his eyes opened to the pace of his insanity during the time that he admired Mahiru's sleeping form. 

"So vulnerable." he squealed. "I could kill you right now." he raised the hand that has been caressing Mahiru just above the Eve's head, ready to strike. 

"I could." he whispered wobbly, lowering the hand. 

He looked woefully at Mahiru, taking in his soft breaths and tranquil countenance. He sighed, tightening his hold on Mahiru as his head fell forward, hiding Mahiru in his cocoon. 

He gritted his teeth, hissing angrily at the memory of Mahiru laying still in the hands of the three succubus. He remembered their moans as they were draining him of blood. He remembered the sight of his Eve, his partner bathing in the pool of his own blood, with his eyes closed exactly like this moment. 

He subconsciously stiffened, strengthening the hold around Mahiru. The human stirred in Kuro's death hug, waking the devil up from his sorrowful memories. Kuro observed Mahiru shifting back to serenity. 

He sighed again, deeply, before placing his fingers over Mahiru's neck. The blood coagulated in some places, and the skin felt still hot, throbbing with adrenaline. The scars were small, but deep, some hidden by blood, some in full display, mocking him. 

He inspected them attentively, knowing that those were his own doing, but all he saw were those of the succubus lying underneath. The more he stared at them, the more the pain crept its vicious way around the darkest side of his existence. His features darkened, and his body became rigid with every thought, idea and realization swimming around his mind. 

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he whispered, as he hugged Mahiru's body close to his ancient heart. 

Kuro felt guilty. He should have been there, protecting his Eve. If he were to ever get a taste of his venom, Kuro didn't want it to happen the way it just happened – just to cover the pain caused by another. 

He snarled at the memory, stiffening till numbness immersed his body. He let his forehead fall on top of Mahiru's head, believing that breathing his natural smell would calm him down, but the smell of blood contaminated that of sunshine, like a reminder of his own failure. 

He couldn't bear that pain. 

His body bolted up, and he let the limp body fall through his poisonous fingers. The bed would do a better job at keeping him safe now, he told himself. 

Mahiru kept sleeping peacefully; forever to be unaware of the warmth he has awakened in the old heart of the beast hovering over him.

"Your kindness turned into your weakness." he whispered, gently stroking his hair. He felt the fire blazing within him calming down, and he noted how a thin veil of harmony slowly embraced him, and he even let a soft smile take over his scowl. 

But when his eyes fell on the blood staining Mahiru, all the harmony turned into irritation. He didn't want to see it anymore, he couldn't see his Eve lying in blood anymore. 

Desperately, he grabbed a wet cloth, and as carefully as his frustration and fear let him, he washed away all the blood, all the memories of his defeat.

And only after that he left the room.

_______________

When Mahiru spotted Kuro's back in the living room, he came to a halt at the end of the hallway. A ball of heat erupted inside his stomach upon seeing the unhorned demon silently pacing the room, with one hand inside his pocket. 

Kuro listened to someone on the phone. On Mahiru's phone. And although Mahiru couldn't see his face, he knew that a passive expression decorated it. 

Obscurity saturated the room in an alluring contrast, caused by the closed curtains and the lights emitted by the TV. They soaked Kuro in an enticing mystery that made Mahiru engross himself in his gracious silhouette. 

The blue jacket woke up even more memories and sensations of the previous night, and Mahiru let himself get lost in amity as silently as an ephemeral joy. 

He found that the veil of warmth and nervousness became thicker and thicker the more he stared and the more he heard Kuro's croaky voice. 

"Yes, he's fine, stop being annoying. It's such a pain." 

The bites tickled him, as a silly act of reminder that, that same mouth has been there; that Kuro's fangs have been there, but nothing more. It caused no disturbance, it only caused a subtle pleasure that forced Mahiru to clutch his neck to subdue it.

Mahiru smiled at Kuro's antics, the grip on his neck tensing more and more, with every word and sound coming out of Kuro's mouth. The familiarity made him feel more at ease with each small step he took towards the source of the noise, yet that voice made him edgy. But it was that exact same voice, same tone, same melody that brought him back to reality. 

"Stop staring. It's rude." 

Mahiru blushed at Kuro's remark, watching him throw the phone on the couch and how he approached that nonchalant position that Mahiru found so acquainted.

After being lost in the darkness for so long, Mahiru felt melancholy to face something he recognized and didn't horrify him. 

"Sorry." Mahiru giggled, touching his nape. "I've just been seeing you so much with your horns out lately that now that you don't have them it's weird." he lied with his eyes closed. 

"Ah, I see." Kuro smirked, taking two indolent steps towards the human. "Are you sure that's the reason, Mahiru?" he asked in a playful voice. 

Mahiru frowned at him, futily trying to hide the blush on his cheeks. His masked innocence awakened the demonic perversion that Kuro carefully kept sealed deep inside of him. The tip of his tongue came out and licked the corner of his lips once. Mahiru pouted, indignately looking to the side, before daring to open his mouth again. 

"Who was-" he paused. "Who were you talking to?" 

Kuro's smirk increased. His head fell to the side, eyeing Mahiru roguishly. "Bastard-chan. He's been asking about you." he replied. 

"Misono?!" Mahiru shouted with eyes shining with worry and enthusiasm. "How is he? How's everyone?" 

Kuro shifted his piercing gaze away from Mahiru's vandalized body and set them on his eyes. The teen swallowed under the devil's intensity, sensing that, that look seeked something that Mahiru has been whelving fiercely. 

"How are your wounds?" Kuro changed the subject. 

Mahiru raised his brows at Kuro's question, and rubbed his neck instinctively. "Ah!" he forced a smile. "They're kind of numb right now, but they don't bother me anymore."

Kuro hummed; a sound so sinister that Mahiru felt shivers run down his spine. He advanced two steps, and slowly removed Mahiru's hand from his neck. The bite there resembled two red dots, with lines of a softer shade scattered around them, that got lost inside the shirt. 

Kuro harshly reflected on the idea of touching them, wishing to feel and admire closely the art he himself created. 

Hesitantly, he let go of Mahiru's hand and brought it to his wounds. He glided his fingers over them, secretly enjoying the rough feeling under them. The touch was light, but Mahiru still twitched, making Kuro stop. 

"They hurt?" Kuro questioned. 

"A bit," he confessed, "but I'm fine."

Kuro still didn't move his hand, nor his eyes, from the bites for seconds. Although invisible on his face, the remorse and regret chewed at his mind and soul fervently, externalizing only the maddening fire in his eyes. Mahiru tensed under Kuro's glaring, wrestling with the vulnerability that purred under Kuro's attention. 

Kuro retracted his hand. "You'll be alright now." he concluded, hiding his hands in his pockets before turning his back to Mahiru. 

Mahiru deflated as the uneasiness left his body, leaving him with a dreamy stare pointed to the floor, and a soft smile. Seeing Kuro care, made him happy, even though, after yesterday's night, he didn't feel entirely comfortable in his presence. Something changed, but what exactly changed, Mahiru didn't know. And didn't give much thought on discovering, being content with only the dissipation of the pain. 

It felt good to bath in tranquility after nights of suffering, he admitted, be it an evanescent peace or not. 

However, with Kuro's departure, Mahiru remembered: "What about Misono and the others? How are they?"

Kuro threw him a blood-curdling look over his shoulder, deciding to respond in a placid voice, "How you left them. How did you expect them to be?" 

Mahiru eyed him perplexed. Questions without answers and images that put a knot in his chest danced around his brain. How he left them, Kuro told him. How did he leave them? He was only with Misono when the attack occurred. Was Misono hurt? He couldn't escape in time? Did the succubus run after him after being done with Mahiru? What about the others? Were they attacked too? 

"What are you saying? Are they hurt?" he voiced his worries. 

"Very." Kuro bluntly replied in a deep voice, observing attentively how emotion after emotion of fear and worry decorated Mahiru's face. 

"Who… Who hurt them?" he mumbled with a coherence that put Kuro on the edge of his demonic urges and desires. One hundred and one images passed through the Serdevil's head; and all of them had Mahiru at his mercy. 

Time passed before Kuro answered. 

"You." he divulged; a voice so icy that Mahiru's mind, body and spirit froze. No thoughts, no reactions; only chills of worry clang to him. 

Only moments later, he managed to vocalize tremulously, "What are you saying? 

Kuro narrowed his eyes at the human, as his echoing steps sluggishly leaded him closer to him. "Self-sacrifice, Mahiru, it's but fear and selfishness." he spoke gravelly, finally stopping in front of his Eve, yet still away from his personal space. 

Surprise traversed Mahiru's features. His mouth opened for a reply, yet no sound came out. His head moved agitated, until it bowed and let the hair hide Mahiru's turbulent eyes. "What do you mean?" he demanded. 

"No one slept or ate well since that day because they were feeling worried and guilty. Bastard-chan has even been blaming himself and his weak body ever since. So now tell me, Mahiru, how did your heroic self-sacrifice help him?" 

A heavy cloud of turmoil fell upon Mahiru, paralyzing his body and emptying his mind of any rational judgment. He refused to believe that he had hurt Misono. It ached so bad to be accused in such a way by Kuro. 

"I only wanted to save him." he mumbled, "I just wanted to help!" he shouted, curling his hands into fists. His body trembled at the intensity of his rigidity. 

Kuro though, remained composed, only the spark in his eyes betraying his real feelings as he spoke. 

"And did you? What part of him did you save exactly?" 

Mahiru grimaced, tensing up with every attack phrased by Kuro, until, in the end, all his frustration blew up. 

"He would have died if I wouldn't have done what I've done!" he shouted, taking the few steps towards Kuro that brought him in his personal space. 

Even if his eyes were wild, uneasiness fell upon Mahiru like a dense cloud. It felt as if he didn't step in the middle of his own living room, but rather as if he entered the territory of a dangerous creature.

"And you also thought about the pain you would have felt if he would have died. That's why you did it. And now you pay the price." Kuro pushed with a phantomatic smile. 

"So what?" Mahiru whispered, head low, fists tighting until they started trembling. "What's so wrong with that? What's wrong… with helping people because you don't want them… to die?" Mahiru was on the verge of crying when he finished, struggling to control himself until he could no more, fighting against the tears until his inner wall broke and they slowly came out. 

Kuro softened immediately, forgetting all about the previous events, when he noticed lonely tears sliding down his partner's cheeks. And knowing the reason behind them took a part of his ancient heart and left him with regret and admiration for the little human who lost his last family member in the cruelty of the mistakes of his own Serdevil. 

Kuro's legs guided him towards Mahiru in a heartbeat and his arms hugged him as tight as his feelings overflowing his body. Mahiru's cheek was pressed against Kuro's chest, while Kuro's head lowered itself as the last piece of the shelter for him. 

And in that protective refuge, Mahiru let all his tears free and cried his sorrows and pain out, forgetting about the fear of being judged and the torment of looking weak. And he felt truthfully happy to hear the melody of Kuro's heart instead of his accusatory voice.

"This is what's wrong with it. It destroys you." Kuro murmured next to his ear. Mahiru hid even deeper in Kuro's embrace, letting out the most grievous alew Kuro has ever heard from him. He held him even tighter. 

Time passed with them in each other's embrace, getting lost in each other's warmth, letting the essence of the other to calm down the tension, anxiety and insecurity built up until now. 

Though, in that serenity, Mahiru felt assaulted by embarrassment and frustration. The succubus not only seemed to have changed his life, but also parts of his being. He didn't have the strength he used to have. He didn't have the strength to stop his tears and cries anymore. He didn't have the strength to fake a smile and a cheerful personality for days or weeks. He didn't have the strength to fool people. He only fell. And he fell so low that he ended up crying in the arms of the person who needed his strength more than anyone. 

He's never felt like such a burden. What kind of Eve was he? What kind of Eve was he when after all this time he still wasn't good enough for his Serdevil? What kind of Eve was he when he couldn't be the rock and anchor of his partner? 

He needed to stand up from the darkness. He needed a distraction. And the only way he knew to distract himself was denial, was to change the subject and act like his breakdown never existed, he needed to convince himself that he was alright and that everything will be ok. 

He blinked his tears away, letting one last tear to stain his cheek. There are more important things to talk about, he reminded himself. Two deep breaths he needed to regain the broken pieces of himself that he's lost; yet not enough to offer him the strength to break out of Kuro's hug. 

"Um… Kuro?" he called with a hesitation that made the demon hold him a bit tighter. 

"Hm? What is it?" there was nothing in his tone, as if he knew what the teen wanted to ask. As if he knew that Mahiru wanted to run away from his pain, to cast it away in a dark coffin where they'd let it be forgotten. 

And maybe he did know, maybe their bond went beyond what Mahiru knew and could comprehend. Maybe the looks Kuro usually directed at him went deeper than the surface and the human power of understanding. Kuro saw him, and felt him. 

"Am I really… healed?" he asked shyly. 

Kuro smiled bitter-sweetly at the words. His dispiteous blood boiled in enthusiasm, but, on the other hand, his rational mind triggered in him a choleric feeling. 

He grabbed Mahiru's shoulders to pull him away. Mahiru didn't look at him, he couldn't look at him and he didn't want to. So Kuro grabbed his cheek with one hand and made him look into his eyes. They were softer on the surface, more like the lazy Serdevil he so well knew. But reaching their core, he noticed the predatory craving struggling to be ignited. 

"If you mean that your body won't ask for venom anymore, no, you're not healed. You'll need it more rarely though, since my venom is stronger than those troublesome succubus." he paused to analyze Mahiru and let him process his words. "And I'm here to give it to you when you'll need it, so it won't hurt you that bad anymore. But you must tell me when you need it, Mahiru." he added more sternly, scrutinizing Mahiru with his ferocious eyes. 

Mahiru glazed at him for a while, before turning his head away. 

"I don't really get much of this whole saliva and venom thing." he admitted. 

Kuro took some time to respond, indecisive over bringing back the words Mahiru avoided, or simply staying on the course he picked. In the end, he puffed, and hoped he made the right choice. 

"Just think of it as different types of drugs." Kuro explained, and Mahiru's mind started to process everything in a different light. It made sense why Kuro's bites weren't like the succubus, why he didn't feel that exact sensation his mind and body were looking for. He remembered so vividly how clean and dry Kuro's feeding mannerisms seemed to be, and how grotesquely succubus' saliva got mixed in with his blood and dripped from his wounds. He shivered at the disgusting memory. 

Silence misted the air after that, letting their thoughts get mingled in the quietness. Their eyes spoke all the words their lips couldn't, and so Kuro's urged Mahiru to let out the questions eating his mind. The strength and intensity of Kuro's gaze forced Mahiru to avert his eyes. He chewed his bottom lip, wondering and searching for the right way and words to approach the next topic.

Kuro felt as if he watched a stranger, a ghost of what used to be his Eve. He paid attention to his pensive expression, shaded with worry and nervousness. He noticed the frantic way he chewed on his lower lip, and the way his fingers fumbled aimlessly. There remained nothing of the boy with the gigglemug, the boy who punched people with his righteous mindset and nothing of the boy who boldly asked a stranger if they were a vampire. Kuro couldn't stand watching this human carcass, this alternated version of Mahiru. Not anymore. 

So he bumped his head into his. Hard. 

"What the hell?!" his Eve thundered, holding one hand over his head. His eyes were wild, and Kuro smiled in the corner of his lips. This. This right here was his Eve. His Eve returned. 

"Just say it. It's annoying watching you freaking out." Kuro declared with masked bluntness. 

Mahiru mumbled incoherently, lowering his gaze to the ground. He cleared his voice, closing his eyes for one second. 

"So last night…" he left the sentence lingering in the space between them, but it was enough; enough for Kuro to understand him. 

Kuro let him go, taking a few steps back. The distance felt poignant after the comfort they shared. He looked away, gawking at Mahiru scratching his nape from the corner of his crimson eyes. His head hung low and his hands hid inside his pockets. 

"I only wanted to get rid of the venom of those female demons. That's why I didn't…" he shifted his gaze on the TV. "let you fully enjoy it." 

"But will you?" 

Kuro turned his head at the hope in Mahiru's voice. They observed each other in that enchanting ambience, letting the fireflies of their emotions dance in the air. 

"Who knows?" Kuro teased, amusement building up in his body at the indignation on Mahiru's face. 

"Bastard! I'm going to make tea!" his Eve yelled, before running away. 

But as Mahiru stormed towards the kitchen, he didn't notice the saddened expression Kuro followed him with. 

_______________

The rain's melody calmed the distress caused by the itch in Mahiru's neck, like an unguent over a burn. The droplets stained the windows of the living room, and he found himself lost in their hypnotic dance. 

The occasional thunder and the beeping from Kuro's video game created a harmonious duet that distracted his mind from the bugs of pain swiftly crawling under his skin. 

His fingers grazed the area of his neck unconsciously; a touch that the monsters inside him became addicted to, and they called, they screamed for Mahiru's attention, they begged for the sweet pain he inflicted upon them through himself. 

His nails slowly digged into the skin, knowing that there's a creature under it that they needed to reach. It became a reflex for him, a habit that Mahiru thought will haunt him forever, as a constant reminder of his weakness. 

"Are the bites burdening you again?" 

Mahiru jumped at Kuro's hoarse voice. Turning, Kuro's seriousness attacked him, forcing an immediate answer out of his silent demeanor.

"No. They're fine." Mahiru lied with a smile on his face. And it must have been the disturbance in his eyes, or the way his hand diligently tried to hide the damage he's been inflicting on it that made Kuro give him an incredulous look. 

And it was that passive glare that stimulated Mahiru to add a reassurance of his safety. And whether it held truth or lie, for Mahiru it held no significance since, in his mind, he was fine. Everything was fine. 

"I know it's been three weeks since you've bitten me, but I'm alright. Really." he beamed. 

And yet, it didn't sweeten Kuro's expression. His eyes still ambushed Mahiru's mind, daring the lies lying inside to come out. Mahiru felt nervous, eaten by a monster of truth that exposed his darkest secrets. And he needed it to stop, he needed to get Kuro out of his head. 

"Do you…" he gulped. "need something?" 

Kuro didn't respond right away and his countenance remained impenetrable. The wait suffocated Mahiru, the silence screamed inside his head like one thousand ghosts blocked in time; forced to live the same traumatic experience over and over again. 

Only when the shadows scattered around the room took the form of Kuro's menacing, sharp tentacles and snaked from the walls to the floor, Mahiru mimicked an expression. A terrified one. 

He stepped on the edge of his madness, he thought, as his eyes followed the blackness getting past Kuro's legs and crawling towards his. Its movements were tantalizingly slow, as if it had a mind on its own and willingly played with Mahiru's mind. Moreover, it seemed as if Mahiru was the only one who could see them, as Kuro maintained his glare on the human without unfocusing once. 

Just when Mahiru prepared himself for the assault, Kuro spoke and the shadows froze, as if scared of their owner. Mahiru watched them bewildered as they retreated into the obscure parts of the place. 

"I'm hungry." Kuro spoke monotonously. "Mahiru." he called, when the teen still seemed distracted. 

"Oh." Mahiru mumbled, continuing after a pause. "I'm going to go make lunch then." he announced, as he jumped to his feet and stormed toward the kitchen.

And the devil felt cold, both outside and inside. Mahiru has been avoiding the topic of his bites and disturbance since Kuro bit him, and while he was happy that Mahiru didn't completely give in to the addiction for his venom, it hurt him that his Eve didn't trust him enough to come to him when pain ate at his body, to tell him when he needed him. 

Moreover, he felt Mahiru's fear. Fear of him. He gritted his teeth when thoughts of that night invaded his head. He lost control, he admitted that. And the consequences of that stabbed his heart ruthlessly, leaving him empty in an ocean of regret and waves caring the same question that's been haunting him before. 

Was he wrong? 

Kuro's empty eyes followed Mahiru's silhouette from between the strands of hair of his bangs; darkly and voiceless, like a carcass of a living being or a robot without circuits. 

"You watch TV, I'll cook something quick." Mahiru called, without a look back at his Serdevil. 

Kuro lowered his gaze to the video game in his hands. "How troublesome." he sighed quietly. 

Mahiru came to a halt at the entrance of the kitchen, with one hand on the light switch. Fear enveloped his body in heavy chills and petrified it. His eyes stung due to how wide he kept them opened and his voice died in his throat. 

The same shadows crawled on the walls and objects of the obscured room like snakes. Their movements mimicked a dance of seduction towards death and Mahiru felt the possibilities of his upcoming doom raising with every inch those shadows took towards him. 

He followed one shadow crawling towards his leg; slowly, tantalizing and scarily. He gulped with difficulty, struggling uselessly to take one step back. Right then, the shadows raised like an imperial cobra ready to attack, hinting at the fact that if Mahiru tried to escape, they will attack him immediately and remorselessly. 

Mahiru felt trapped in Kuro's mind all over again. He felt like a doll with living eyes that could only watch the monsters consume it, without any ability to defend itself. He concluded that one wrong step could end up being fatal for him and he gulped helplessly as questions and theories flooded his mind. 

Earlier, the Shadows in the living room stopped moving when they heard Kuro's voice. Should he try to run? Would he get to Kuro in time? But these shadows became aggressive just upon noticing him moving. Should he try calling for Kuro instead? Would calling him trigger the shadows either way? Would Kuro come fast enough to save him? 

"What are you doing?" 

He startled at the voice hitting his back. He slowly turned his head and he found Kuro over his shoulder. He had his slothful expression on his face and the careless demeanor. But his eyes spoke all the words Mahiru needed to know that he must hide his suffering, even though he felt relieved by his presence. 

"Nothing." he laughed. "I was just thinking about what to cook." he turned the lights on, before turning his head towards the kitchen. 

The shadows disappeared, yet the ambient still had an eerie atmosphere. The rainy weather made it appear gloomy, gray and small, like a dark box being attacked repetitively by one thousand rocks. 

Mahiru tightened his lips before he stepped carefully on the cold tiles, as if any sudden move could disturb a shadow and wake it up from its – maybe – temporarily slumber. 

"Mahiru." Kuro called lazily. Mahiru watched him over his shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes. Of course." he assured, and made his way towards the fridge when the bite on his shoulder made him twitch. He blinked tightly and grabbed rapidly the first thing his hand touched in the fridge. "I'll start lunch now, don't disturb me." he threatened Kuro with the vegetable. He wanted him gone before the pain increased, even at the cost of the shadows threatening him again. He would rather be eaten alive than have Kuro see him in such a vulnerable and deplorable state. 

Kuro watched him up and down, as if scanning for the truth and the wrongs inside of him. Mahiru didn't move, nor spoke, nor breathed. He waited patiently, yet scared that Kuro already saw through his mask and decided to toy with his mind until he spat out the entire truth out of desperation. 

To reassure himself, Mahiru adopted a bolder expression, praying that his warrior act won't be betrayed by a sudden shot of pain. 

Kuro's eyes raised to his, and Mahiru felt his blood freezing and his mind going blank. The bites tickled him, like ants creeping their way under his skin. He gripped the vegetable tighter and fisted his free hand, trying to resist the urge to touch his neck and shoulder. 

Kuro let his head fall to the side. His bangs shadowed one of his eyes when a ghostly smile appeared in the corner of his lips. He looked macabre, Mahiru thought. A thunder cut the short silence and the shots of rain intensified. They stirred the nervousness inside the Eve, while the Serdevil feeded his ego with them. 

After that, with a husky voice, Kuro said, "Beware." 

Then, he left. 

Mahiru's body stilled at the warning, although his eyes stayed vigorous as they followed Kuro's form retreat behind the corner. 

Once out of sight, Mahiru exhaled profoundly, and leaned his back on the fridge, arms limp by his sides. The cold felt good. It felt like waves of icy air entered his body and it dissipated the burning and stinging inside. It eased his mind and soul in the purest way possible. 

He closed his eyes to savour it when a more intense and more durable painful electroshock striked his neck and he hissed, cupping it. 

"Not here, not here." he begged. 

But no mighty forces heard him. No one listened to his prayers. He felt cursed, he felt hated, he felt alone and he felt like a burden. He felt that for the Eve of the strongest Serdevil, he seemed a disgrace, a blasphemy of pathetic failures. 

Was he even worthy of staying beside Kuro in such a miserable state? Was he worthy of the title of Eve of Sloth? 

The bites throbbed and he gritted his teeth to restrain any kind of sound that might get Kuro's attention. He added more pressure on it, chanting to himself that everything was fine. That everything will be alright. He attached himself to those lies until they became truth and the pain reduced to a dull burn. 

Mahiru let out an exhausted breath, opening his eyes. He felt drained and fog obscured his sight. He didn't dare to move yet, afraid that every kind of movement will make the hurt come back. So he stayed immobilized until his body recharged, until he found the strength and bravery to move again. 

Unaware that Kuro spied on him from the darkness of the living room. 

Kuro watched his Eve step with difficulty towards the kitchen counter. He watched him trying to act normal, secretly grit his teeth and grab his neck, occasionally scratching it. He watched him suffer in silence, like the strong Eve he felt proud to have. He watched him fighting and struggling, gripping onto the slight wish that Mahiru would ask for his help. Yet, in the end, he watched him fall behind the counter with a quiet grunt.

Mahiru tried desperately to maintain a coherence of his surroundings, but the pain was so much worse than before. The bites didn't itch, nor sting or burn anymore; they ate him alive. They ripped apart parts of him, they extended, they stabbed his insides with such ferocity that Mahiru bit his lips to stop other screams from getting free, as tears streamed down his face. 

"Resist, resist, resist." Mahiru chanted with a brittle voice and a stinging throat. 

His reality slowly got swallowed up in sombreness. The pain crawled up through every nerve and vein of his body, reducing him in a living chaos on the verge of distruction. 

His harsh, alarmed breathing gradually made him dizzier and weaker; so much that he didn't realize when his knees fully gave in and his bum touched the cold pavement, nor when his side leaned against the counter. 

And not even when another figure towered over him. 

Kuro stopped in front of Mahiru for a few seconds, witnessing how he hurt himself in search of release and strength. The devil crouched in front of the trembling body, gently gripping his forearms in an attempt to distance them from his already wounded neck and shoulder. 

"I told you to tell me when you need it, Mahiru. I know you think you're helping when you keep your discomfort hidden, but you're actually making things worse for both me and you." 

Mahiru listened guiltily to Kuro's scolding, still trying to fight the caustic spasms inside of him. Still trying to prove himself worthy of his Serdevil, forcing himself to act like an Eve of Sloth was supposed to be – fearless, brave and strong. And he did so with the most painful expression and the most heartbreaking actions Kuro has ever seen. 

Mahiru tried to hide his screeching face from Kuro behind his knees. The devil pursed his lips in a tight line at the sight, and reticently reached a hand to cup Mahiru's cheek, tilting his head back. Mahiru's eyes showed fear at the sight of Horned Kuro. With four shadows dancing around his back, and many others sliding down the wall like black lava. 

Kuro smirked in the corner of his lips at the Eve's face. Mahiru's terror rose up and the Serdevil felt ecstatic at the amount of adrenaline pumping up inside his body. Kuro looked verendous, Mahiru thought. Like a dark royalty preparing a death sentence, where his horns played the role of his crown and the shadows the role of his army, ready to execute Mahiru on their Master's command. 

"Why are you scared, Mahiru? Are you afraid of me?" the devil muttered close to the human's face. 

His eyes held stories that stirred Mahiru, yet scared him at the same time. They resembled the abyss of an ocean; fascinating, but scary. A place that you'd like to explore, but you know it's too dangerous. 

Mahiru shook his head vigorously as a reply. Kuro analyzed him when the shadows moved towards Mahiru and the latter gaped at them with anticipation. That's when Kuro understood. 

He tilted Mahiru's head more to construct him to focus only on him. "The shadows come after you because you fear them. Why do you fear them?" 

Mahiru watched him terrified, feeling the shadows attacking themselves to his hands and legs. "Because… Ah!" he tried to say, when a jolt of pain made him scream and curl in on himself, gripping his neck desperately. "Make it stop!" he screamed. 

And Kuro's eyes widened at Mahiru's words, unable to process them properly and the realization that followed along. He did it, he asked for help. He asked for my help, he thought madly. And he felt high, he felt glad, he felt… He felt happy. 

He grabbed Mahiru's head between his hands and pulled it back. Mahiru's pained expression greeted him and he grimaced. He noticed how Mahiru's nails itched to sink under his skin, so he grabbed his hands gently and secured them in his, between their chests. 

Then he glued his forehead to Mahiru's and breathed in his face. 

"You're scared of me because of my reaction last time, aren't you?" he asked in a rough voice. "It's also because of me that you fear the shadows, am I right?" 

He heard Mahiru gulp, but no sounds after that. So he continued. "My bad." he smiled apologetically, lowering his head until his lips brushed the skin of the teen's shoulder. "I reacted like that because that was the first time I bit you like that. I kind of…" he paused to think of the right wording. "got excited. It won't happen again." 

Mahiru remained silent. Yet, Kuro waited and waited, before realizing that Mahiru didn't plan on answering. He distanced himself, but maintained his face close to Mahiru's. And Mahiru saw the sincerity in Kuro's eyes. He saw the self-blame, the regret, the fear of being told that he was wrong. 

But he wasn't wrong at all. 

Mahiru tried to voice his thoughts, when another jolt of pain interrupted him. "That's not- Ugh!" 

He curled in on himself, grunting. His hands fought Kuro's to reach to his wounds and rip the skin off. The pain creeped farther under his skin, harshly infecting the wounds, deeper and harder than ever before. They throbbed, burned, stung, fought for the type of attention that drove Mahiru crazy. "Make it stop!" he demanded again, more furiously than before. 

Kuro bit Mahiru's wrist immediately and the Eve inhaled sharply. Just like a drug addict getting his dose, he moderately fell into a state of tranquility. He peeked at the contractual chains binding his wrist, as he let his body relax into Kuro's chest, enjoying the dose of venom entering his body. His forehead laid on Kuro's collarbone, and, closing his eyes, he let himself get lost into the protective aura Kuro gave off. 

And only then he felt the ghosts and the pain break away from him, leaving behind only the misery of his own uselessness convulsing within him. The grief of always trying and never being good enough. The anguish of falling apart, and in front of someone nonetheless. And the sorrow of not understanding why him. 

Just what did he do so wrong to deserve all this torture? Was it really his heroism as Kuro told him? What was he supposed to do then? What is he supposed to do now? When will all this nightmare end? When will he be free?

Breathing in Kuro's natural scent and the faint scent of detergent from his clothes, Mahiru turned his head to allow his cheek to rest on Kuro's chest. But he didn't cry, nor begged anymore. He was tired. He was numb, floating senselessly and without destination. He didn't care as long as Kuro stayed. 

Kuro put one hand on Mahiru's nape, and his fingers played absent-mindedly with Mahiru's stray strands of hair as he kept drinking from him. 

And in that moment, Mahiru realized that Kuro became his anchor that continously dragged him out of the ocean of grief and suffering. No matter how many times he tries to run and hide from danger, pain or problems, he would always end up in Kuro's arms and his safety would guide him out of the abyss. 

Feeling that Mahiru calmed down, Kuro retracted his fangs and his tongue licked the blood going down Mahiru's arm, being careful to not touch the bite with it. 

After that, he pressed his nose to Mahiru's knuckles and waited, and waited. He waited for a word, a sound, a movement – any kind of reaction from his Eve. 

But seeing that he got none, Kuro leaned down and glued his nose to the warm skin of Mahiru's neck. The boy shivered, and Kuro smiled. He inhaled the smell it gave off; the smell of Mahiru, the smell of his blood, the smell of his eagerness. 

Kuro's nose felt like a cold hand on a feverish forehead and it made Mahiru squirm slightly. Then a wet, hot tongue marked that small territory; as a small, little hello that made Mahiru inhale sharply through his nose. And just like that, Kuro pulled him out of his deathless death. 

An ardent breath followed, engulfing the entire area of his neck, as Kuro's mouth opened as wide open as it could. Feeling his neck captive in that cavern, and the tips of Kuro's fangs faintly touching his skin, Mahiru closed his eyes. 

And Kuro stopped. 

Mahiru opened his eyes. Kuro's hot breath constantly hitting his skin made the bites itch more. He grimaced as he counted five seconds in his mind before Kuro closed his mouth and raised his head, departing from Mahiru. 

"Come." Kuro grunted, dragging Mahiru after him. 

He guided Mahiru to the couch, in the now obscure living room, where only the traces of the dim light of the kitchen cut through the miridical darkness. 

"Lay down." Kuro instructed, guiding Mahiru with his hands on his shoulders. As soon as his head touched the soft seat cushion, his eyes closed. Scrutinizing Mahiru's rapid breaths, Kuro crouched down by him. 

"Which wound hurts more?" he asked. 

Mahiru took a while to answer, and when he did, the words came out strangled. "The neck."

Kuro smiled before letting the tip of his tongue to lick his lips. He stood up, towering over the human like a midnight ghost. He studied Mahiru with the same wicked expression and nefarious smile. He glared at his pained expression, listened to his aching whines and inspected his spastic body. 

One of his hands brushed Mahiru's hair; once, twice and the hand stopped on the human's head. Mahiru's eyes opened and he gaped at Kuro in a despondent way. 

"Why that face, Mahiru?" Kuro lowered the hand from Mahiru's head to his cheek. "I said I'll help you, didn't I?" he teased. 

Mahiru twitched before giving Kuro an answer, and grabbed his own neck with one hand. 

"No." Kuro ordered, grabbing his wrist. Humming deviously, he took a sit next to Mahiru's hips. "Don't touch it. I'll do that." 

He lowered his torso over Mahiru's, with one hand on his bicep for corporeal support, and the other next to his neck. 

Mahiru trembled and whined under Kuro. And with every passing second watching and feeling Mahiru being so vulnerable, awakened bits after bits of Kuro's predatory instincts. 

Sealing his nose to Mahiru's neck once again, he muttered, "Is it here that it hurts you, Mahiru?" He felt Mahiru gulp under his lips, and his grin widened. 

Mahiru turned his head the opposite of Kuro's, letting the entire area of his neck free for the demon to devour. 

"Just… hurry up." he sobbed, eyes closed tight. 

And Kuro listened. 

The moment his fangs pierced the skin, one of Mahiru's legs jerked up and his head sunk into the couch, as a sharp inhale made its way through his wide open mouth. The action created even more space for Kuro, so he deepened the bite. 

Both of Mahiru's hands jumped into the material of Kuro's jacket and he started to pull desperately on it, urging Kuro to come closer to him, to his body. 

"Don't lose to it, Mahiru, damn it." Kuro cursed, breaking away from Mahiru's neck. 

Both his hands moved on either side of Mahiru's head, supporting his weight. His head was close to Mahiru's, but the eyes were hidden by his black hair, as he pushed his chin deeper into his chest with a growl. 

Mahiru didn't listen. He kept on pulling onto Kuro, but the demon distanced himself from him. He grabbed both of Mahiru's hands into one of his and used the other to cup the boy's face.

"Look at me, Mahiru, and listen closely. I know the bites burden you and you want it to stop, but don't lose to it, ok?" Kuro warned sternly, with eyes just as hard. 

Mahiru's face contorted in pain right before his sight. "It hurts!" he sobbed. 

"I know, I know –" agonized cries interrupted Kuro, "Hey, hey. Mahiru. Listen, listen." once he assured himself that he got the boy's attention, he continued, "The pain will end soon, ok? Just breathe and calm down. Don't let it control you." 

Following his Serdevil's instructions, Mahiru breathed deeply, feeling how something in him cracked with every inhale he took, but he pushed through whimpers and cries. 

"Good. You're doing good." Kuro cheered, as he brushed Mahiru's hair with his fingers, and even when they went numb, he still kept going until he ensured himself that Mahiru regained his lucidity. "You ok now? Did you calm down?" Kuro checked. 

While Mahiru's breathing was still slightly rushed and face red and sweaty, his eyes looked more clear. 

"Kuro." he whined, grabbing the Serdevil by the front of his clothes and pulled him down. Kuro's eyes nearly got out of his skull from the shock. The tips of their noses nearly touched and their breaths merged together. "Stop being such a coward, neet devil!" 

"You don't understand the power of a Serdevil." Kuro cautioned. And those words – those words again! Mahiru already knew that he understood close nothing about Serdevils, especially about Kuro. He knew that he didn't understand how to use a Serdevil, but fuck! – hearing this from his own partner hurt more than all the times someone else has said those words to him. 

And he got fed up with them, with those words. 

"Then show it to me!" he thundered. Still, the Serdevil didn't flinch. Instead, his lip twitched in frustration. His eyes closed in irritation. And his forehead fell on top of Mahiru's in exhaust. 

"Mahiru…" Kuro warned, but Mahiru interrupted him, making him raise his head. 

"Kuro! We're partners, so I trust you!" the security in Mahiru's voice and the confidence in his eyes scared Kuro so much that he sunk his chin in his chest and let his hair hide his face from Mahiru. 

Those type of words have always scared Kuro, as much as they surprised him. He hated them. He hated how troublesome they were, how troublesome his Eve was! 

"This is-" 

"Kuro!" Mahiru interrupted him again. 

The Serdevil became still, but his mind convulsed into tormenting thoughts and uncertainty. He didn't want to be wrong again. 

But the more he looked into Mahiru's confident eyes, the more distress he felt. Because the more Mahiru infected him with his pertinacious thinking, the more that insecurity of his faded, and, as always, his faith in his own partner pushed him to act in accordance to his words. 

Kuro sighed deeply, letting his forehead fall onto Mahiru's chest. "Fine." he mumbled. "Fine!" 

He moved his head like the sloth he was, just enough for his lips to kiss the middle of Mahiru's neck. And Mahiru smiled at the act; a real, soft smile that illuminated even the deepest part of his insane mind. It was simple, but for him it was everything. For them, it was everything. It wasn't just a peck or an act of love, but an act of gratefulness and safety. 

And Kuro acted like a cat in a human body. For how long was Mahiru supposed to resist it? 

Mahiru tightened his arms around his Serdevil's shoulders, hugging him closer. Kuro adjusted his position in Mahiru's embrace, to have a better angle and control over his next actions. 

After shifting his hands under Mahiru's torso, Kuro used his tongue to clean all the blood staining his Eve's throat, shoulders and collarbones. 

Mahiru slowly drifted into the abyss of delight. Kuro's tongue was soft, warm and long; long enough to make him squirm and whine. And Kuro got intoxicated by every reaction, sound and smell. 

So much that he didn't notice when he licked the fresh bite, like a hungry beast, covering it in the warm saliva it left behind. 

And only when Mahiru let out the loudest moan, did Kuro realize what he's done. 

"Damn!" He cursed, breaking away from the wound. He sustained the weight of his torso on his elbows as he stared at the human with big, fearful eyes. 

Sweat and a deep blush adorned Mahiru's face. He breathed deeply and rapidly. Kuro wanted to run away, to hide, to disappear – anything to distance himself from the boy scalding in ecstasy under him. 

And so, he tried. He pushed on his hands and raised his torso from Mahiru's before being stopped by the teen. 

"Kuro!" Mahiru screamed, tightening his hold on the demon to keep him from getting away. Again. 

Kuro hid his face in his hand. Mahiru called him again, pulling harshly at his clothes and hair. "Kuro!"

Kuro gritted his teeth. How could he lose himself when just a moment ago he warned Mahiru about it? 

Mahiru grabbed his nape and forced Kuro's face to his neck. His nose almost touched the wound. The fragrant smell intoxicated his rationality. It drove him crazy to the pits of the darkest parts of his mind, stimulating, one by one, the monsters he's been hiding in there. 

He breathed rushly on the wound, struggling to break free, but he felt weak. His body became shaky and mellow and he got more and more devoured by his own hunger and urges. The agitation made him lose control and brought forth all his fears. If he didn't break away soon, he won't be able to restrain the monster within anymore. 

"Mahiru!" he yelled desperately. 

Mahiru didn't listen. He only kept pushing Kuro's head. Because he didn't care; he didn't mind becoming his prey – he wanted it. He wanted Kuro to stop fighting himself, he wanted him to let loose the beast inside of him and let it do what they both wanted it to do. 

And with every passing second, the beast finally came out. 

"Fuck it, fuck it all!" Kuro broke down, before sinking his fangs into Mahiru's neck; deep, hard and no longer careful of his saliva's pheromones. 

Mahiru screamed and moaned insanely. The feeling of euphoria was nothing like the last time Kuro bit him. His body burned, his head got lost in madness. 

Kuro threw one of his legs between Mahiru's, letting the other one still hanging off the couch. Mahiru was hard, Kuro felt. He couldn't stop the pleasured groan that escaped him, nor the rush of torrid warmth traversing his body. 

Kuro's hands snaked down Mahiru's sides, till the hem of his shirt. He slid his thumbs over Mahiru's abdomen and then moved his hands back up, making the shirt rise up a bit. It revealed a few inches of Mahiru's glowing skin and the contact it had with Kuro's clothes made the human melt. 

Kuro thrust his hips once, then twice, thrice and his shirt rose up with every move. The skin of their abdomens touched, and both of them let out a guttural sigh. Kuro stayed imobile, savouring the warmth and softness of Mahiru's skin. He hid his face in Mahiru's neck and nuzzled it. But it wasn't enough. He wanted more. He needed more. 

Lamenting in Mahiru's shoulder because of the uncomfortable position, he used one hand to rise up their shirts a little more. And only after that, he kept moving, agonizingly slow, and planting passionate kisses on the human's neck, jaw, cheek and behind his ear. He enjoyed every inch and second with Mahiru's body and Mahiru enjoyed every thing the Serdevil did to him. 

Kuro's hands went under Mahiru's bare back and the Eve arched in his embrace, inhaling sharply. 

Kuro let traces of fire on Mahiru's skin as his hand wandered up and down, from his back to his side. His kisses lowered to Mahiru's collarbones, to his chest and then his stomach. Then he planted the kisses back up, as he raised Mahiru's shirt with his hands and head. They advanced until Mahiru's shirt reached his armpits, and Kuro raised on his knees above him to take it off, letting it fall on the floor. 

When he wanted to lower himself back on top of Mahiru's body, the Eve grabbed the hem of Kuro's shirt with both hands and pulled up, revealing his abdomen. 

And Kuro got the message. Raising on his knees, he took off his shirt. Mahiru watched him with alluring eyes. Kuro couldn't bear be looked at as if he was some kind of angelic or heroic figure. He didn't want Mahiru to look at him when blood stained the corner of his mouth and chin, and his eyes were as wild as those of a monster. 

Thus, he covered Mahiru's eyes with his hand. One of Mahiru's hands flew over his instinctively, as a wail of surprise came out of his ajar lips. 

Kuro came closer to the human's face, breathing on his mouth. Mahiru felt his heart in his throat and the bites impatiently jerking up. Kuro lowered himself more and their lips barely touched. Both of them felt goosebumps erupting on their bodies, before Kuro finally subtracted the last remaining inch between their lips. 

He kissed Mahiru, he's kissing Mahiru! he told himself. With no tongue, no force; his lips pressed themselves like a morning flower over Mahiru's. And when he lowered himself in the heat of Mahiru's body, both of them let out a throaty sob. 

Mahiru's hand left Kuro's, and walked, along with the other, on Kuro's back and biceps. Kuro's, however, stayed in place – one on Mahiru's eyes and the other next to Mahiru's armpit, to support the weight of his body. 

Kuro leaned his head to the side and added more passion in the kiss. Their heated breaths hit each other's cheeks and wheezy moans occasionally accompanied them. They became the only sound in their ears, the pressure on their lips became the only focus and the passion became the only feeling. 

Maybe the kiss wasn't animalistic or lascivious, but for them it signified the most fervid and aphrodisiac action they've experienced.

They broke from the kiss with a gasp and an avalanche of emotions that immersed them in a mythical reality. They breathed heavily in each other's faces – one with his eyes covered and one with his eyes closed tight. Kuro's forehead fell against Mahiru's, unable to comprehend what he just did. 

Only moments later, he slowly removed the hand from Mahiru's eyes, but he didn't dare open his own. And unknown to him, neither did Mahiru. 

After his breath and thoughts calmed down, Kuro opened his eyes reluctantly. Mahiru still had his closed, but his breathing labored steadily. 

Kuro kissed his right eye, for a long time. And whether he did to leave a mark on Mahiru or to pass him part of his blazing feelings, he didn't know. And he didn't need to. When he raised his head a few inches above Mahiru's, he met his intense gaze. The fire subsided, but they still held emotions; emotions that made Kuro swallow. 

"How are you feeling?" he whispered softly. 

Mahiru didn't answer right away. However, when he opened his mouth to respond, he twitched with a grimace. 

"It's coming back." Mahiru informed with an agonized voice. 

And Kuro needed no more words to understand what his Eve meant. With a nod, he moved his mouth to Mahiru's neck yet again and pecked it. Then he went lower with his lips and he pierced Mahiru's shoulder with his fangs, with a ferocity that made Mahiru scream desperately. 

When Mahiru started to feel the ecstasy and euphoria fulfilling his body and mind, he started to flounder under Kuro. His hands moved frantically from Kuro's arms, to his shoulders, hair and back, gripping and passing his fingers and nails in such a way that made Kuro shiver and thrust his hips against Mahiru's. Again, and again, and again, in low, deep motions that made Kuro fist the armrest just before Mahiru's hazy eyes. 

The Eve's neck arched at the move, his head buried itself in the couch and his mouth fell wide open with no sounds coming up besides deep breaths. His fingers sunk deep into Kuro's skin; so deep that his nails traced ghost lines on Kuro's back and he growled. Kuro removed his fangs just to open his mouth wider, bite deeper and suck harder. Mahiru cried. 

And Kuro's hands wandered, discovered every bit of inch of Mahiru's body, spreading shocks of love wherever they traveled. And Mahiru whimpered at his every move. He felt the warmth, the passion Kuro embedded into his spirit, heart and soul and it overwhelmed him. With a lump in his throat, an erotic weight on his chest, Mahiru let himself be Kuro's prey, he allowed him to devour every remaining essence of his being. Because he belonged to him. Mahiru belonged to Kuro, handcuffed by the contract of their bond and tied by the contract of their soul. 

"Kuro." Mahiru whispered in the demon's ear. It was small, breathy and so full of emotion that Kuro stopped biting him and touching him. 

The Serdevil raised his heavy head to look at his Eve. They were ghosty, full of lust and a fire so intense that Kuro traveled through them till he reached his soul and permitted himself to stay lost in there, to stay there with the pure essence that was his Eve. 

He searched for Mahiru's hands through the fervour. He found them, shakingly grabbed them and secured them in the warm cell that were his hands. 

"What is it? Are you feeling dizzy?" he asked, voice low, gruff and breathy. 

"No, just-" he didn't know what to say. He couldn't describe the overwhelming feeling that embraced his body, he couldn't describe the pleasure, the security, the safety he felt in Kuro's arms as his victim, being at his mercy. "This felt good!" he blurted out, masking his embarrassment with rage. 

And Kuro wasn't taken aback by his boldness anymore. He wasn't amused by his minion anger, nor by his unpredictability. 

So with a loving smirk, Kuro bent the knee of the leg that was between Mahiru's, constricting the human to raise his more. Then he did the same with his other leg and he exhaled a trembling breath when he felt Mahiru's legs around his hips and their manhoods touched through the layer of their jeans. 

And Kuro thrust his hips to the rhythm of their heartbeats, their sensations and their emotions. 

Kuro leaned in, gluing the tip of his nose to Mahiru's. His head moved a bit to the side, before his lips softly touched Mahiru's. They were a bit chapped, yet soft and warm. With a gentleness that made Mahiru puff, the Serdevil put more and more pressure into that kiss, until their lips opened. 

Both of them gave each other a breathy moan, one that made their bodies burn. Kuro pushed his tongue inside Mahiru's mouth, but not all the way in. He only caressed it with his, but it was enough – Oh! It was enough for a bomb of fiery euphoria to erupt inside his chest, lowering then to his stomach, crotch and legs. His position shifted a bit because of this. His body pushed forward against Mahiru's, causing his head to be a bit higher than his Eve's. His forearms sunk into the couch, on each side of Mahiru's head. 

But Mahiru frowned. 

Kuro pushed his tongue into that hot cavern and he explored, he touched, he caressed it. He got drunk on it. But Mahiru didn't. His tongue stopped dancing with Kuro's, he tried to get it out of his mouth, he tried to push Kuro away. 

And he did so with a gasp, surprising Kuro and stopping his movements. 

"The blood tastes gross!" Mahiru yelled at him. 

"It's for fan service, Mahiru, suck it up." 

Mahiru pouted. Kuro smiled. He kissed Mahiru's cheek, the side of his chin, his jaw, neck, neck-shoulder and shoulder, as he started to move with gentle, yet deep thrusts.

"Mm." Mahiru moaned. 

Before he could get used to that rhythm, Kuro began moving faster, faster, faster and harder, harder, harder. 

And he sunk his fangs back where they belonged, no longer weary of the doses of saliva. And he didn't take them out when Mahiru's moans turned into erotic screams, he didn't take them out when Mahiru's trembling turned into erotic trashing and he didn't take them out when Mahiru's hands gripped his skin. He didn't stop when Mahiru's body vibrated under him as he screamed "Kuro!" 

Only after that he retracted his fangs, but kept moving frantically, even when Mahiru started to feel limp in his arms due to his climax. He kept going as Mahiru looked at him through hazy, honey eyes. He kept going when Mahiru freed his hands to cup his face, constricting Kuro to grip the armrest. 

And he admired his demon riding his close climax, he watched his open mouth, letting out breathless moans. He admired his red eyes falling close and his body moving more urgently. Until it didn't move at all, it only stayed there, deep pressed on his clothed cock, frozen until the last bits of his orgasm faded and he came back to Mahiru. Back to his Eve. 

"You're so troublesome." he whispered, as his forehead fell onto Mahiru's, and they became one with mind, spirit and soul.


End file.
